Arrogant bluster no substitute for economic plan
Shane Jones’ arrogant assertion that businesses struggling for workers should just invest in automation, rather than
look for skilled immigration, is just the latest in a long list of unhelpful suggestions from an out-of-touch
Government, National Economic Development spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.
Speaking at the National Party’s Lower North Island Regional Conference in Masterton this morning, Mr Goldsmith says
business confidence is falling because the Ardern Peters Government has no positive economic plan and its leading
Ministers demonstrate little understanding of business realities.
“Mr Jones might not ‘lose any sleep’ over firms struggling to find workers, but Kiwifruit growers, for example,
certainly are,” Mr Goldsmith says.
“If there was a robot down at Mitre 10 that could reliably and efficiently pick the fruit, they’d use it, Mr Jones.
“The previous Government invested substantially in a Regional Research Institute based in Tauranga to advance progress
in robotics in horticulture, to follow that example. But it will take years to perfect.
“Yet Mr Jones stands up and blusters away that we have too many immigrants, he doesn’t want them, and business should
just lump it and invest in automation.
“This follows Workplace Relations Minister Iain Lees-Galloway’s suggestion that firms worried about the labour market
reforms just aren’t resilient enough, and Economic Development Minister David Parker’s well-known contempt for farmers.
“Meantime the Budget showed plenty of spending, much of it poor quality, plenty of borrowing, increased taxes, and
virtually nothing about how as a country we’ll earn more.
“Aside from an R tax break, which is likely to be a poor substitute for Callaghan grants and will be no use to start-up companies, there
is nothing that is pro-growth.
“What businesses see is a Government that has been piling on anti-growth policies and working against them non-stop
since the election.
‘They are down on oil and gas exploration, most farming, international investment, decent regional highways, 90 day
trials, welfare sanctions that get people into work, faster resource management decisions, and tax policies that reward
people for working hard.
‘New Zealand needs a Government that works with companies, not against them, one that is serious about economic growth.”